Sport

BOBSLEIGH: Track hopeful Abi misses Austria but stays in the running

TROWBRIDGE teenager Abi Davies plans to continue fundraising throughout the year after missing out on the chance to compete at tomorrow’s British Bobsleigh Championships.

The 18-year-old, a student at Southampton Solent University, fell short in her efforts to raise the money necessary to experience her first taste of competitive action in Igls, Austria, and has already turned her attentions to ensuring she isn’t left out in the cold again next season.

“Unfortunately, between myself and my brakewoman Elly (Donaldson), we couldn’t raise enough for us to go out there,” said Davies.

“My uni offered to help pay for my flights but we didn’t have enough for the cost of the sled, which is a shame.

“There aren’t going to be any more competitions this season after this but hopefully there’ll be a few training days over the summer. I think that I’m going to carry on fundraising throughout the year and try to make sure that I get there next year.”

Despite not being able to compete in Igls, Davies had been handed a boost after receiving a £1000 bursary from SportsAid in a scheme designed to support potential future Winter Olympians.

Fellow bobsleigh hopeful Anna Alexander-Holmes, from Holt, has also received funding from SportsAid and the 19-year-old, who studies at the University of Bath, is set to hit the ice in Igls with brakewoman Anya Kay.

STEVE Cook, of butchers Water Rose & Son, who have shops in Trowbridge and Devizes, is set to experience the twists and turns of a bobsleigh track this week.

Cook, whose firm sponsored Trowbridge Olympians John Jackson and Paula Walker, will sit behind Jackson in a sled in Austria this weekend.

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